By: Al Ballesteros
Seven Days in June” which ran from June 1 to June 7 is a nationwide week of action spearheaded by Cleve Jones, well known AIDS, health care and social justice advocate. The purpose of the campaign is to elevate “Health as Primary” in response to massive federal healthcare cuts and demanding lawmakers prioritize health and protect vulnerable communities. Cleve brought his message to Northeast Los Angeles at an event hosted by The Wall Las Memorias.
At the event, Cleve said “It’s been 45 years, 45 million dead and we still don’t have a vaccine or a cure for HIV/AIDS. And right at the point that we were getting to the brink of victory, instead we find ourselves on the precipice of yet another disaster, thanks to the cuts in health care here at home and all around the world.” Jones was referring to budget cuts to multiple programs addressing health disparities and poverty including USAID that was slashed by the Trump administration and, according to Cleve has led to more than 600,000 deaths since the program was cut. Cleve Jones said the deaths were from preventable diseases such as malaria, TB and HIV.
Jones said the Big Beautiful Bill or HR 1, passed by the Republican Congress and signed by the President has caused new suffering, misery and death, around the world and here at home. Jones says the Big Beautiful bill will be hard hitting on certain populations such as Black women who have higher rates of child mortality, rural hospitals having to close, and proposed cuts to the Veterans administration. To be sure, advocates also point to the loss of coverage expected as a result of changes to the Medicaid program that will require increased eligibility screening for benefits. For all of these reasons, Jones is traveling around the country talking about the big picture.
“We need health care; we believe health care is a human right.” “It is too late to stop that bill, they passed it, they say it’s beautiful, and they were very smart; they wrote it so the worst of it wouldn’t hit until after the November elections.” Jones continued, “so mark my words, this time next year, every one of you, every community you are part of will already be deep into the suffering caused by the legislation, so we need to mobilize now, before the election, we need to hold every one of them accountable.” “This is beyond ideology, political party, sexual orientation or ethnicity. It’s about the fact that these people care only about the profits for the very wealthy and they don’t give a damn about the rest of us and we can’t tolerate that anymore.”
“…We have to be very strong, we got to reach out and build the broadest and deepest coalitions possible, find common ground, fight back in November and get ready for 2028 because this is not going to be an easy struggle and it’s not going to be a quick struggle.”
“…Every one of you knows what’s at stake; it’s our health, it’s the health of our nation and its our effort to preserve democracy and human decency.”